EULEX: Human remains found in Rudnica

Human remains were found during excavations at the site in the village of Rudnica, in the municipality of Raška, EULEX has said.

"During the site assessment at the Rudnica quarry in the municipality of Raška, the Serbian authorities, EULEX Department of Forensic Medicine (DFM) and forensic experts from the Kosovo DFM discovered human remains," the release reads.

The EULEX War Crimes Investigation Unit, the Serbian government's Commission on Missing Persons, and the Red Cross International Committee are also present at the site, the release adds.

EULEX also said that "the work will continue, in coordination with Serbian authorities, in the upcoming days."

At the beginning of this week, the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office and the Commission on Missing Persons began excavations in Rudnica, at the site where bodies of around 250 people were allegedly buried.

On instructions issued by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office, digs at the Rudnica site are being carried out using the methods of forensic archaeology so as to establish the credibility of information about a mass grave.

The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office found "a potential mass grave" at the Rudnica site in Raška, southern Serbia, which, according to witnesses, contains the bodies of 250 Kosovo Albanians.

The Prosecutor's Office believes that the remains were transported there during the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo in June 1999, and that this was done by members of the then special police unit.

The issue of the mass grave in Rudnica was raised by the Priština working group and UNMIK back in 2004 and unsuccessful examinations were conducted in May and June 2007.